Hi everyone
I’ve been trying to experience lucid dreaming for 8 month now, and although I haven’t had one yet, I had a couple of dreams in which I realized that I’m dreaming. The problem is that when I realize that I’m dreaming (reality checks included), I don’t become lucid. It is weird, but the dream simply doesn’t change. I’ve heard that when someone knows that he’s dreaming, the dream becomes more clear and sometimes the dream feels just like real life. But when I realize that I’m dreaming, it still feels like a normal dream. It is difficult to explain, I hope you know what I mean.
What am I doing wrong?
I do 10-15 reality checks a day and I use SSILD.
( I hope you can read it, I’m not a native spreaker )
What you are doing is perfectly fine and natural, it’s called following the dream plot and probably just natural instinct. Increasing your daytime level of awareness using tips you can find here in the forum will greatly enhance your ability to recognise dreams from reality.
Another thing you can try is to develop a habit, a good habit of pausing for a moment before you continue with the dream. Again, this can be set during the daytime practice and also through intention (which works in wonderful weird and mysterious ways).
Sometimes even waking life can feel like dreaming which is why we need to double-check or triple-check using simple methods like counting your fingers and toes.
Reality checking is great, but 10-15 times per day won’t do a whole lot. If you want them to be most effective and have a higher chance of bleeding into your dreams, you need to be doing them pretty frequently. Basically, at all points through your day. In a dream you always think that you’re in RL. Therefor, is it not possible that you’re dreaming right now and just not noticing dream signs everywhere? You might be sure, but you’re pretty sure in dreams too, right? Maybe you should do an RC.
As far as the dream feeling the same, at first it might be that way. Being lucid does not mean greater control or vividness, it just means that you know you’re dreaming. When you do become lucid, I’d recommend doing several RC’s in a row, and really think about what it means. If you just do an RC and go “oh, I’m dreaming” and nothing more, you’re probably just slipping back into an ND.
Another thing that can help is making a list of things to do when you’re lucid. Review it throughout the day and at night when you go to bed. Having goals can help break the habit of just following the dream.
Thanks for the answers
When I realize that I’m dreaming while I’m dreaming, I often do two reality checks (counting fingers and holding nose). I also have a list of things I want to do when I am lucid, and the first thing on the list is flying of course .And it’s not even about control, I had ‘lucid’ dreams in which I had flown, but even these dreams aren’t more vivid than any normal dream. Besides that I know I am dreaming, I’m still as unconscious as in normal dreams. So the question is how to become more concious in the dream and how to make the dream more vivid after I realized that I’m dreaming.
To pause during the dream to increase the conciousness in the dream is a good idea, I’ll try it
Been about 7 months for me and still no dice, I’ve also had some FLD’s where I’m almost lucid too. But It’s bound to happen eventually, at this point we are probably going to need to do WILD, because DILD’s are just not happenen for us.
At the original poster: I’m a little confused. Are you trying to say that you become lucid, but shortly lose lucidity or are you trying to say that you become lucid and the clarity / vividness of the dream doesn’t change (increase). If it’s the second then I’d recommend trying to tell the dream to become more vivid. Try yelling out your desire. I. e. Increase vividity now!
Yes, it’s more the second, and during one of my FLD’s, I told the dream to become more vivid. I actually screamed something like: ‘Vividness’ as loud as i could, but it didn’t work. It’s like I say something in the dream, but I’m to unconscious to really know what I’m saying. The same thing happens when I realize that I’m dreaming. Then I always say to myself that I’m dreaming without really believing it, also when I do things that are impossible in real life.
Maybe I’ll have my first real lucid dream (I mean when I am also concious during the dream) when I succeed in WILD, but so far I have not. I tried it for a couple of times now.
I’m not understanding, if you’re aware that you’re dreaming while dreaming, then by definition you have accomplished a lucid dream. Whether the dream is any vivid or not is a whole different matter, much attributed to the fact you must be then in a very low lucid state. If this is the case, the issue lies in your ability to stabilize once lucid in the dream. That way, you can maintain consciousness in the dream state, and allow for a greater control of the experience, thus preventing you from slipping back to a non-lucid state, or losing the dream altogether.
In a whole different issue, allow me to speculate based on what I’m understanding. From my experience, the three lucid dreams I’ve had where dreams in which I knew I was dreaming, but, as you’ve explained in your case, mine also didn’t follow by any increase in vividness or conscious action for that matter. I still kept following the dream plot, at least in practice. However, in my mind, I was still aware all the time that I was dreaming. So, while by definition we could say you’ve had attained lucidity, it doesn’t actually describe what a lucid dream really feels like or is. That is, that there’s something more to lucidity than just being aware that you’re dreaming.
Not entirely sure if my speculations have any relation to your case. Hope I’ve helped.
Have you tried rubbing your hands together? When I did it, some of my senses became more clear than real life. And also, I’m pretty sure the definition of a lucid dream is just a dream in which you’re aware that you’re dreaming, so your dreams were lucid dreams, just not very vivid ones.
What I’ve known so far is that a lucid dream is a dream in which you know that you’re dreaming and in which you are more concious than in normal dreams. If the second part of the definition is not necessary for a dream to be a lucid dream, then I have already experienced lucid dreaming. Sorry, I should’ve pointed that out sooner . So my problem is that I am not able to stabilize the dream.
I’ll try the hand rubbing the next time I lucid dream. I hope it’ll work that good for me too
Okay Normal dreams can be incredibly vivid sometimes, it depends on the dream, so it wouldn’t really make sense to have that as part of the definition. Some people also include being in control as part of it, but I don’t think you need that either.
Luckily, I had a lucid dream tonight, but a very unconcious and not vivid one, like all my other lucid dreams I had. I remembered that i rubbed my hands in the dream, but it didn’t worked, the vividness of the dream didn’t increase. Although I felt the heet produced by the rubbing, my hands were very sweatty and I couldn’t rub them very fast. It was the only thing in the dream I remember I did.
So why doesn’t it work for me and how can I increase the vividness of my lucid dreams. I had 15-20 lucid dreams so far, but none of them were vivid or concious.
So what your saying is, you became lucid, but you weren’t conscious? Actually, I think I know what you mean but I don’t think that “conscious” is the right word. Being lucid in a dream and being conscious in a dream mean exactly the same thing. Are you trying to say that you became lucid, but a part of you still doesn’t actually realize that you are lucid? (If not then I’m sorry for being so wrong)
Exactly . I’m not 100% convinced of being in a dream, although I can manipulate the dream in a way that is impossible in real life. So it is obvious that I’m dreaming, but I still don’t really believe it. I hope you know what I mean .
But how can I convince myself completely that I’m dreaming? I assume that the vividness of the dream increases at the point I really believe I’m dreaming.
Ah, okay. Yeah, of course I know what you mean . I’ve had an experience that was sort of kind of similar to this, but only once. Unfortunately, I’m still just a beginner, so I don’t know for sure how you can fix this, but try this: when reality checking, don’t just do the RC and be done with it. REALLY question the reality. Tell yourself why this isn’t a dream, and fully understand. Being aware of yourself in waking life may help you be more aware of yourself in the dream.
…Or at least I think it will . Try that out and see if it works. Good luck!
Let me ask you something: How do you usually get lucid in your dreams? Is it a thought that just happens to spontaneously appear without much thinking? Or, do you reason out whether you could be dreaming? What I mean is: do you go around in your dreams, following dream plot, when suddenly it hits you that you’re dreaming? Or is it more along the lines of: I see elephants flying in the sky. I pause for a moment and think: “Wait a minute, elephants don’t fly that’s impossible!” Then it hits me, “Why of course this is a dream!”
You’ve said you can manipulate the dream in impossible and unrealistic ways. Are you however, aware that you’re doing such impossible feats? Or are you aware of them once you wake up? Because, such impossibilities are very strong convincing indications that you’re dreaming, leaving no doubt about it.
I still think you are in a very low lucid level. If there’s not much reasoning involved in the process were you attain lucidity, you could try and reason out how you know whether you’re dreaming or not. Perhaps, that way, you’ll acquire sufficient evidence to fully convince yourself that you’re dreaming.
You could also try pausing for a moment and really take a look at your surroundings. Before you decide to do anything, just make use of each of your five senses and try to note what goes around you. Maybe that way you could increase the vividness of the experience.
If all else fails, continue using other stabilization techniques, perhaps spinning around, constantly tell yourself that you’re dreaming, reality checks, etc.
Thats excellent advice Husky. I’ve had the same problem for years, having low-level-lucidity which i call ‘semi-lucid’ dreams, where you realise your dreaming but feel groggy like you’ve drunk a 6-pack. Your memory, reasoning and logical capabilities whilst in this state do not function like a stereotypical lucid dream. Often I have a mix of both fully lucid and semi lucid dreams, even in the same night!
In my experience if you can stay in the same lucid dream long enough your attention span and dream ability usually increases, but it can also decrease if you don’t keep track of your own inner gauge on it. Lucidity seems to flow with periods of low and high awareness like the tides of the ocean. I imagine the same thing happens during waking life but to a much lesser extent - that is periods of high and low alertness.
One thing I’d suggest, Czarcass, is that when you do the hand-rubbing technique, you need to be certain that you truly believe it’s going to work. A lot of what happens in a dream is expectation so if you’re not expecting it to work, why should it?
Wow, thanks for all the answers
When I get lucid, it’s often spontaneously like Husky discribed it. I suddenly realize that I’m dreaming, but I don’t know to I know that. That happened very often when I had my first semi lucid dreams. And it’s also very common that I follow my dream plot and do a reality check by habit. Then I always think something like: “This is real anyway, the reality check won’t work.” But after I reality checked, I realize that I’m dreaming. Surprisingly it never happens that something in the dream seems weird to me which would lead me to the thought of the dream being a dream .
What I realized is that when I get lucid, I mostly don’t follow the dream plot of the dream I have, but rather follow the dream plot which I planned in real life. In real life for example, I planned to fly when I get lucid. So when I am lucid or semi lucid, I can manipulate the dream plot but only in the way I’ve planned before. I can’t create my own dream plot during the dream.
In my last lucid dream, I met a DC who I know in real life, and I said to him something that I would never say when I’m just a little concious. So this unpredictable acting of myself which I usually experience in normal dreams also happens in my semi lucid dreams. And that is what I mean when I say I’m unconcious in the semi lucid dreams.
I already did the pausing during a lucid dream, and it didn’t worked, but I’ll try it again.
Two stabilization techniques haven’t worked for me, but I will try them all out, hopefully one will work .
When I plan to do stabilization techniques, I always believe that they’re going to work, and I always imagining how I feel the heat between my hands and how the vividness of the dream will increase. I guess there is still some doubts, but it’s hard to really believe it will work after 20 semi lucid dreams.
Thanks . It’s not a big success when I’m semi lucid again, but it still is a success .
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. So my problem is that I am not able to stabilize the dream.
. I’ve had an experience that was sort of kind of similar to this, but only once. Unfortunately, I’m still just a beginner, so I don’t know for sure how you can fix this, but try this: when reality checking, don’t just do the RC and be done with it. REALLY question the reality. Tell yourself why this isn’t a dream, and fully understand. Being aware of yourself in waking life may help you be more aware of yourself in the dream.
. Try that out and see if it works. Good luck!
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